"How the fuck have you not killed this clown yet?!" Ram snarled in disbelief. "You're still not healed from the injury Hawk Eye gave you?!"

"Who the hell is supposed to heal from something like that so quickly?!" Zoro barked back in equal amounts of disbelief.

"Father!" She retorted back like clockwork, scowling deeply and making him groan.

This was how the fight had been going nearly the whole time. Zoro would attempt to do something, Ram would not approve, then she would bring up how Rosan could do it better and he'd snarl at her in aggravation.

To her, their redheaded scout may as well have been Kami because she was asking for completely unreasonable things that he could do apparently.

Between wielding two katanas that nagged him constantly, the stupid antics of the octopus fishman in front of him and the near fatal injury Hawk Eye had given him, Zoro was not having a very fun time.

If this is what Rosan had to deal with all the time, the swordsman understood why he was as brutal as he was. The things Ram told him to do, bordered on insanity and she clearly had no regard for if he lived or not in the process.

Whenever he didn't do something she said (which was very very often), the psychotic weapon would respond, "Father would have done it!" and he'd heard it so much, he was turning dizzy.

He vowed to get two new swords after this, Ram and Rosan were clearly meant for each other.

Zoro clashed Ram against Hatchan's six blades and despite his annoyance with her, he couldn't help but marvel at how smooth it felt to use the ring. She was light to hold but that's all that was light about her.

"ARE YOU CALLING ME FAT, YOU GRASSY PIECE OF SHIT?!"

"SHUT THE HELL UP AND LET ME HAVE MY THOUGHTS TO MYSELF!"

"FUCK YOU!"

"You can't beat me, Roronoa Zoro!" Hatchan grinned, despite the fact that he was failing to push the man back. "I have six blades to your three so that means I win!"

Zoro was trying to push back but his wounds flaring up, stopped any current thought process and he groaned in agony.

Hatchan took ruthless advantage of that.

"Tentacle Sword Overload!" He called, swinging his swords rapidly and charging the green haired man.

"Why did Father pair me with a half dead dumbass?" Ram moaned sadly. She wanted to hold her head but she kind of couldn't considering she could only exist in the mindscape when Rosan was holding her.

If she fell in that fucking water, everyone here was going to die the moment Father got someone to save her!

Zoro almost didn't react in time but Ram barked out a, "Block!" and he instinctively listened to her. The swordsman blocked the swings and groaned at the pressure it was putting on his body.

"He's swinging with a lot of force right now. Use that against the bigger dumbass and take advantage of the opening to use one of your stronger techniques."

Zoro grunted in affirmation, diverting the direction of Hatchan's swing and using the weight of his blow against him.

The octopus yelped in surprise, as he stumbled and the green haired man quickly took his opening with no remorse.

"Tiger Trap!" Zoro said, driving all three blades into Hatchan's chest. He marveled at how easily the blades dug into him and was reminded that Ram was no ordinary weapon.

"O-Ow!" Hachi roared in pain at the deep cut.

"Press your advantage! We're finishing this before your wound becomes too much of a problem! Attack, attack, attack! Overwhelm him and show me that resolve that Father is so interested in!" Ram ordered confidently.

Zoro did just that. He crossed his swords across his chest and glared deeply at the octopus fishman before saying, "Oni Giri!" and slashing right through the man effortlessly, ending up behind him in the process.

He didn't have time to think about his injuries. He didn't have time to question if he was going to lose. Even if someone else would die from these, that would not be him.

He was not someone else.

He wouldn't lose no matter what, not until he crossed blades with Dracule Mihawk again. Until he crossed blades with the World's Greatest Swordsman, he couldn't afford to lose against anyone else calling themselves one.

Zoro began spinning with the three blades until the wind began picking up around him.

"Finish it!" Ram bellowed, grinning savagely. It didn't matter what it was, she loved being used to destroy an opponent.

"Dragon Twister!" He roared, conjuring a dragon-like tornado to strike Hachi.

The octopus didn't stand a chance. He, along with the surrounding debris, were flung into the air and struck repeatedly by the attack. All six of his blades broke from the impact and as he fell into the realm of dreams, he could only say, "But how did my six swords style lose to a human?"

"Your swords don't have the same weight as mine," Zoro replied simply, sheathing Wado Ichimonji in its hilt. "You can see that now, right octo-man?"

The fishman crashed into the floor with a thud, already unconscious.

"Hachi!" Kuroobi shouted in concern, charging Zoro in fury, before being forced to block a kick from Sanji.

"Didn't you say pay attention?" the somewhat bloodied chef smirked. He had taken quite the punch in the chest due to his concern for the idiot swordsman but it was nothing serious.

"Y-You," Kuroobi snarled in annoyance.

Zoro collapsed on his knees and clutched his wound tightly.

"Sloppy but well done," Ram said, satisfied by his performance.

"You're an even harsher critic then Rosan," Zoro snorted internally but if not for the weapon's guidance, he'd have been in a lot more trouble. She was incredibly useful and her claims of being the ultimate weapon, didn't sound so far-fetched.

"Father doesn't want you dead just yet and what Father wants, Father gets. But, you need to improve even more… After this is over, ask him to start training with you," Ram demanded.

It would be good for the both of them which is why Ram requested it. Zoro, with his ambition, would get stronger training with her Father and Rosan would steadily have to put more and more effort into their fights!

Her father wasn't a swordsman but right now, he was undeniably a better swordsman then Zoro. But that would only be temporary. As long as Zoro survived long enough, he'd eventually surpass Father's sword skills and they'd have awesome fights as a result!

"That's not a bad idea," Zoro muttered, nodding in agreement and groaning as his wound flared up again, collapsing in a puddle of his blood that was getting increasingly larger.

Ram groaned. Did she have to do everything around here?

She instructed Zoro to place her a moderate distance away from him and he did so with slight confusion.

The already stunned onlookers, jaws dropped to the floor as the katana's began shuddering before transforming into a silver haired woman of all things.

"Who is that?!"

"Where the hell did she come from?!"

"She's gorgeous!"

"Oh! Ram!" Luffy beamed ecstatically, ignoring Arlong momentarily and rocketing over to the silver haired woman. She easily caught the shorter rubber boy and the two exchanged in a hug.

"Sup, rubber squirt," she greeted cheerfully. "I'm free to cause trouble for a week so we've gotta do something fun in the meantime!"

The captain's eyes lit up excitedly at that. "Yeah! Let's go raid a meat store and then a weapon store and then a meat and weapon store!" he laughed cheerfully, before suddenly grabbing the taller woman and jumping out of the way.

Arlong's fist crashed into nothing and he was greeted with a stray rubbery punch to the cheek as a result. The fishman snarled in aggravation and glared hatefully at the still laughing Luffy.

"I won't get in your way anymore," Ram grinned eagerly, unfazed by the sight of Arlong trying to turn the both of them into paste. "Give that shitty fish hell while I get this shitty swordsman outta here!"

"Leave it to me!" Luffy nodded confidently, turning his attention back onto Arlong.

Ram picked the bloody Zoro up by the scruff of his shirt effortlessly (Father didn't get blood on him, she'd be damned if she did!) and waltzed over to the group of stunned onlookers eyeing her with shock. Without any further concern for his well-being, she unceremoniously dropped him on the unforgiving ground, getting a groan of pain out of him.

"Big bro Zoro!" Johnny and Yosaku shouted in concern, before rounding on Ram with a glare. They were getting ready to tear into the woman for being so rough with him...

All thoughts of doing that stopped as she glared ferociously at them, daring the two to open their mouths and successfully cowing them.

"He should be thankful I'm not stomping on his wound right now!" Ram snarled, much to their fear. "Be glad that Father instructed me to keep you alive!"

"You're psychotic," Zoro groaned.

"And don't you forget it!" She humphed, cocking her foot back and kicking his ribs. "AND THAT'S FOR CALLING ME FAT! I DIDN'T ASK FOR THESE NUISANCES!" She roared, pointing at her breast.

The green haired man's eyes bugged at being kicked and the swordsman could only wheeze.

"She's insane!" Everyone balked, inching away from the furious beauty.

Ram stomped off to an isolated area so she could sulk in peace, tugging at her twintails with a scowl. "Stupid Father and his stupid crew and wanting to separate us even though I'm his weapon."

Zoro was never going to use Ram again no matter how nice she felt to wield. It was better for his sanity (and body) if he didn't touch the unhinged weapon.

"Scary…" Johnny and Yosaku shuddered, watching the beautiful woman march off. Someone so hot, should not be so terrifying.

"Who the hell is that?" Nojiko asked in confusion. Had she just been a sword? Father…? No one on the Straw Hat crew looked old enough to be her Father... Hell, she looked like one of the oldest members in the crew!

The Straw Hats were by far the strangest crew she had ever met.

----------------------------------------

Sanji watched the stunning beauty carry Zoro away with a look of jealousy on his face.

He didn't have a single clue who that was but she was drop dead gorgeous, with a unique shade of silver and purple hair and incredibly distinct purple and red eyes... and don't even get him started on the body that her double breasted coat did nothing to hide.

It should have been him getting carried away! That idiot swordsman didn't know how to appreciate her!

Then he paused as he processed the full scope of what he just watched.

"Hey Luffy…" Sanji called slowly.

"Yeah?"

"That gorgeous woman… was she just the swords that Zoro were using?"

"Yep!"

"The same swords… that Rosan gave him to use?"

"Uh huh!"

"So she's the ring that Rosan always has on…"

"Ram belongs to Rosan! I'm surprised she even wanted to leave him! She doesn't like being far from him!"

Sanji puffed out a smoke and remained dead silent, much to the confusion of Luffy and the steadily mounting annoyance of Kuroobi.

The fishman glared at his opponent and cocked his fist back, prepared to do his ultimate attack for this idiots transgressions. "Pay attention, you inferior human!" He growled.

"Ultimate Fist: Thousand Tile—,"

"Collier."

Whatever technique Kuroobi was about to do, was cut off as a kick to the neck smashed him into the ground.

Sanji's looked up and his formerly hooded eyes, were blazing in pure fury. He snapped the cigarette he was smoking in half and let out a yell of emotional pain as he drove his foot even harder down on Kuroobi.

"THAT SUNNOVA BITCH HAS SUCH A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN AROUND HIM AT ALL TIMES?!" He roared in disbelief. That stunning beauty was literally wrapped around his fingers 24/7 and she was exclusively his?

"Epaule!"

"WHY CAN'T I BE THAT LUCKY?!"

Kuroobi tried to get back up but the Epaule connected firmly with his shoulder and drove him right back into the ground.

"WHY CAN'T IT BE ME?!"

"Cotellete!"

"Selle!"

"Poitrine!"

"Gigot!"

Sanji channeled all the rage he was feeling towards Rosan, into a poor Kuroobi who was forced to accept the overwhelming attacks.

He dropped into a one-handed handstand and kicked Kuroobi hard in the ribs before using the momentum to spin around in the opposite direction to deliver a fast kick to his lower back.

Then, pushing himself in an upward position, he slammed his foot into the ray fishman's chest and delivered a sweeping kick to his kneecaps that sent him tumbling across the ground.

Everyone watching, gasped in awe (and sweatdropped at his reasoning for delivering such a beating) at the performance by Sanji. He was tossing that fishman around like no ones business and the fight didn't even look close once he got serious...

Well, as serious as a jealous man could be...

Kuroobi couldn't believe he was being embarrassed by some human that was jealous of another one. This was the most humiliating moment of his life and he refused to accept it.

Eyes white in rage and pain, the fishman once again tried to use his ultimate technique —

"Mouton Shot!"

— But he never got the chance.

When Kuroobi tried to swing, there was no one there because Sanji had jumped into the air and out of his sight. The fishman couldn't even find the chef before the attack began.

A flurry of kicks came out so quickly, Kuroobi could do nothing to prevent it from hitting. They repeatedly slammed into his body with unforgiving force until the chef finished him off with one final kick to his chest.

His body went flying and he crashed into the front of the main building of Arlong Park, but it didn't stop there. Kuroobi went through wall after wall until his body was deposited behind the building.

He did not get back up.

"Don't get in my way when I'm grieving, shitty fish," Sanji said grimly, placing his foot on the floor and reaching for another cigarette.

He was going to kick Rosan's ass for using such a beautiful woman as a weapon. Then, she'd be so grateful by his act of selflessness, that she would stay with him instead of the redhead.

Yes, it was foolproof.

"They defeated two of Arlong's officers…" An onlooker said in awe.

"Who are these guys?"

"In one on one combat too?!"

Nojiko's mouth dropped in disbelief at what she was seeing. "They're amazing… to think they could take down to leaders of the Arlong Pirates…"

Maybe… Maybe they could actually be saved? She thought back to how effortlessly Rosan had defeated and killed one of the fishman and realized that she shouldn't have underestimated him.

They were all monsters! With them… hope was really possible... They really could make it out of this never ending nightmare...

Arlong looked at the wreckage with thinly veiled rage. "Kuroobi… Hachi… you bastards took out my precious brothers one after the other," he said, clenching his fist in barely restrained fury.

"You should worry more about yourself," Luffy grinned eagerly. "You're gonna be joining them soon!"

The veins on his head became even more pronounced, as the fishman stared the rubber captain down.

"Just try it," Arlong said gravely.

"You asked for it," Luffy retorted confidently.

Any further dialog was cut short, due to the sight of an absolutely, massive amount of flames suddenly appearing in the distance.

"WOAH!"

"WHAT WAS THAT?!"

"FIRE? FROM THE SKY?!"

"Wasn't that the direction the redhead and Kaori headed?"

"Rosan looks like he's having fun," Luffy grinned knowingly.

Everyone felt a headache forming at that statement.

----------------------------------------

At around the same time of Zoro and Sanji's fight

After crying in relief at having people to rely on, Nami went and properly bandaged herself up and prepared to head back to Arlong Park.

Well, that was the plan at least, until she heard the sounds of combat and decided to check it out.

What she saw, surprised her greatly.

Kaori and Rosan were locked in combat and the two were exchanging furiously quick blows. They threw out punch after punch and it was clear that the redhead was the victor in most of these exchanges, if the steadily panting fishman meant anything.

The woman threw a punch that Rosan sidestepped, throwing out a punch of his own in the process that she was forced to block.

The force of the blow sent her skidding back but not for long and she quickly dove back into the action.

Her hidden spikes burst out of her body and she immediately rushed him once more, attempting to grab him and failing as he jumped over her spiky leap.

Rosan landed behind her and planted a boot on her back that sent her tumbling for a bit before she quickly regained her balanced.

Dipping her hand into the river behind her, Kaori growled and began launching a salvo of water droplets at the redhead.

"Water Shot: Machine Gun!"

He immediately began dashing away from each one, raising a brow at watching three droplets pierce through a boulder like it were made of paper.

He ducked under two more, pushed himself into a handstand and launched himself upwards.

Kaori's grin at seeing the airborne target, transformed into stupefied confusion as she watched him maneuver his body through the air to continue to avoid her machine gun assault.

"How is he moving through the air so easily?" She thought, watching him twist, turn and push himself forward to avoid getting hit. While dodging, he aimed himself in a downward trajectory towards her and began rocketing towards the fishman with merciless eyes.

She abandoned the machine gun technique and instead sought to intercept his attack with one of her own.

"Two Thousand Tile True Punch!" She roared, throwing out a swift punch to catch the descending man.

It collided with his own fist and a stalemate ensued for only a split second before the momentum from Rosan's drop quickly began to overpower her.

Kaori sought to rectify this before it got bad for her and threw out a punch with her left hand on the still airborne man.

Rosan used the fist against her and got into a one handstand by balancing himself atop her left arm. Then, in an incredible display of flexibility, the shorter man delivered a heel kick directly to her skull.

Kaori's eyes went white in pain as she face planted on the floor and the woman began grinding her teeth in rage at the foot keeping her there.

The redhead, who was forcing her head into the dirt with his foot, took the time to address the new source.

"Oh, Nami," Rosan greeted, jumping away from the fishman and landing closer to their navigator. "Are you headed to Arlong's Park?"

"Don't ignore me, you bastard!" Kaori roared, snapping out of her pain from the sheer rage she felt at being stepped on. She pushed herself back up and immediately closed the distance between the two, throwing out a punch that Rosan blocked with his forearm.

The satisfaction at landing a hit only lasted a moment, at not seeing his arm snap in two from her punch. Her eyes went wide in confusion and then they blanked momentarily at the kick to her stomach that sent her flying back.

The woman fell on one knee and began coughing harshly. W-What was that strength? What was his body made of...? That hit should have snapped his arm in half...

"Be patient," Rosan instructed, unfazed by her aggression.

Nami realized at that moment that her scout was toying with Kaori. He wasn't taking her serious at all, from conversing with the navigator, to speaking to the fishman in a patronizing tone.

He didn't even have a weapon out right now!

How strong was Rosan really…? She figured that his words were just the unwarranted confidence that both he and Luffy seemed to carry at all times but... maybe it wasn't unwarranted after all...

Maybe his words carried far more weight then she realized.

"If you're interested, you can stand a little further back. I'll show you that it's okay to put more faith in us in the future," Rosan offered.

She hesitantly nodded and moved backwards, jumping in shock as a the ground morphed into a comfortable seat for her to sit on.

Modification was so useful.

The redhead nodded in return and pulled his long sleeve shirt back, revealing that he was wearing an armband.

"Right, I guess I should get a bit more comfortable for combat then."

A stumbling Kaori and Nami watched in surprise as the armband they didn't know he had, glowed and began wrapping around his body in a smooth fashion.

Rosan's expensive, all black outfit was replaced with a plain black bodysuit that had a red tank top and some red laced black shorts. To finish off, he had some red combat sneakers on that were laced in black.

"You…" Kaori felt her rage mounting to levels she didn't think possible and it wasn't because of her father. "Are you even taking me serious?"

Rosan tilted his head to the side. "What a stupid question…" He began softly.

"...Of course I'm not."

Kaori cracked the ground underneath her with the speed that she took off with and began her assault anew. She gathered the surrounding water vapor in her fist and spikes before punching forward.

"Thousand Tile True Puffer Punch!"

Rosan blocked it effortlessly but she grinned in a feral manner.

She was nowhere near Jinbei's level of proficiency when it came to Fishman Karate but he still taught her some of what she knew.

Case in point, she used the fact that the cocky Rosan blocked her blow against him and manipulated the water inside of him to make what would have normally been an ineffective attack, much more dangerous due to piercing through his defenses.

The redhead grunted and immediately jumped back, glancing down at his body from her strange attack.

What was that? That attack sent his body into quite a bit of disarray at the moment and he was a bit dazed, unfamiliar with the feeling of Modification scrambling.

Kaori didn't want him to have the time to think of what she had just done and kept up her assault, renewed by seeing how effective the blow was.

She charged Rosan and grinned as he leapt back a bit, forgoing blocking her again.

He was steadily getting closer to a water source that she could use.

"Water Shot: Cannon!" She barked, forming a condensed glob of water and letting it fly forward like a cannonball.

The fishman knew he was getting ready to jump over her attack, so when he did, she made a grab at his legs to force him back down.

With brutal force, Kaori slammed the redhead to the ground, forming a crater beneath him before hoisting him up and capturing him in a bear hug.

Then without any hesitation, she allowed her spikes to reveal themselves and began to squeeze, frowning as they failed to pierce the outfit he had on.

Not deterred, the woman leaned back slightly and slammed her head directly on Rosan's own.

The redhead's head flew back from the brutal blow and his head began to spin. The blow itself stung but that's not what the problem was. The problem was she was doing something to scramble his body.

He blinked a bit as blood began leaking from his head. "Mod-chan."

"Right."

"You have the same spikes as he does. Let me guess, poisonous and detachable, right?" Rosan asked knowingly, head beginning to steam due to the Philosopher's Stone. "Unfortunately, I've already built up my tolerance to them after my battle with Kenzo so that won't work."

She shuddered at his knowledge and only squeezed harder.

Was this guy even human? Kaori was squeezing hard enough to permanently disable a normal person and this guy wasn't even letting out a peep! What were his clothes made out of because they seemed downright impenetrable...

It just didn't make any—

Kaori stumbled backwards as Rosan returned the favor and slammed a head into her own. She released Rosan in the process and before she could stumble too far, the redhead grabbed her gi and pulled her forward, delivering another headbutt directly on her skull, scrambling her brain and cutting off all her current thoughts.

The woman tried to blindly throw out a punch but it hit nothing but air due to Rosan's next maneuver.

Still gripping her gi, Rosan flipped himself over her and used the momentum to deliver a devastating knee to her back.

Nami winced at the sight of Kaori letting out a strangled wheeze of agony, throwing up spit and blood in the process.

Rosan didn't let her go. Instead, the redhead wrapped his hands around her waist, glanced up and jumped with her still in his grasp.

"A fishman in the sky… what a surreal sight," Rosan mused, glancing down at the incoherent woman.

"What absurd strength," Kaori thought, slowly regaining her senses and struggling fruitlessly in his hold. Just h-how high were they going to go —

Something shadowed her view and she finally realized the gigantic wings growing out of his back, bringing them higher and higher and making her turn white.

He was a Devil Fruit user…?!

"So you finally realized," Rosan hummed, turning her around to face him and showing the taller woman his slitted eyes. "Still think I'm lying? Fine, I can show you the move I used to destroy that entire island. Maybe then you'll believe me."

If he was a devil fruit user… then his chances of defeating Kenzo skyrocketed, especially considering the fact that those wings looked draconic in nature.

Wait… destroyed that island? What did he mea —

"A fish shouldn't try and fight a dragon in its domain. You should have jumped in the water and stalled me out," Rosan advised calmly.

Kaori's eyes widened in horror and her struggling increased tenfold. She desperately cocked a fist back and roared, "TWO THOUSAND TILE TRUE PUFFER PUNCH!"

The attack actually connected with Rosan's face, knocking his head back brutally, lodging some spikes deep into his skin and causing a spurt of blood to begin flowing from her powerful punch.

But to her increasing fear, the redhead didn't stumble like the previous two hits when she bypassed his defenses. Her mind was not in that much disarray to misuse her technique and this was directly on his face... Why was he acting completely fine?!

"Your tolerance to that strange attack has been built up to workably resistant levels."

Such was the nonsense that was his Devil Fruit.

"Well, not like hiding out in the water would have worked against me anyways. You'd need to go to the ocean to have a chance."

"Thank you, Mod-chan. I'll give you a massage later."

"!" Mod's face split into a grin and the woman let out a pleased noise at that.

Her horror turned into true genuine terror as that demon stared back at her with an unfazed expression, face already healing from the injury. She watched him open his mouth to spit out a tooth and then another, this time razor sharp in nature, replaced it, along with all his other.

D-Did her Father really have to fight someone like this?!

Rosan tensed up and launched the vulnerable puffer fishman down at breakneck speeds to the water.

Then, he reared his head back and built up the required energy, razor sharp teeth gleaming as the temperature around him turned blistering.

"Annihilation."

Nami's jaw dropped to the floor, as an absolutely gigantic amount of red flames erupted from Rosan's mouth and rushed towards Kaori. The navigator couldn't help but take an instinctive step back at the overwhelming display of power from their scout.

She was sure everyone on the island could see the fire.

"Holy shit," she whispered in awe. Rosan was not joking. He really could have just saved her at any point but she had been to scared to see it.

What the hell was a monster like this doing in the East Blue?

Kaori used the surrounding moisture to cover her body, hoping that it would protect her from those unnaturally red flames.

It did not.

"AGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Kaori screeched in agony as those red flames slammed into her and the only thing that saved her life, was that Rosan had mercifully thrown her towards the water. The flames carried her into the water source and granted her a moment of reprieve, as they began to turn the surrounding water into steam.

T-This was excruciating! All Kaori could think about, was the agonizing pain she was currently in.

How... How could anyone withstand this? It felt like her entire body was peeling.

The part of the pond that didn't transform into steam, became uncomfortably hot and the woman bit back tears at the searing pain that hardly diminished while submerged.

Rosan floated down and gently landed on the floor, staring at the rising steam with a tilted head. "You should be grateful. I didn't want to kill you yet," he said softly.

Kaori let out a soundless gasp from the blistering pain and tried her best not to move too much. If she aggravated these burns even more, she didn't think she'd be able to stay awake.

"Do you believe me now?" He asked softly, now standing right in front of her with that same expressionless face he always had on.

It was like he was mocking her… He didn't take her serious even once.

D-Did he take her dad serious?

She doubted it...

Tears of defeat sprung up in her eyes and she let out a shaky sob. "W-Why? Why did you kill him…?"

"I was merely defending myself," Rosan said quietly as his wings slowly retreated back into his body and he returned to normal. "In that tournament, defeat meant death and I just happened to meet your father in the final round. One of us were destined to die that day and it wasn't going to be me."

Kaori sobbed as she was forced to accept the reality that her father's end had been at the hand of this man.

Deep down, she knew he died but to hear that it was at the whims of those cruel slave masters. It was too much.

The redhead let her cry and idly began pulling out the spikes embedded to his face. She had just found out the fate of her father after all. It was understandable that she reacted like this.

Nami couldn't help but soften her eyes in sympathy as the fishman cried and cried. It was a testament to her kindness that she was even able to feel bad for one of them.

"S-So you were really a slave too? And they made you fight in that hellhole?" She couldn't help but ask through the tears.

"That's right. I was conditioned and tortured so I could compete in that tournament," the redhead responded, much to her shock.

Didn't he say he was nine? What type of sick bastards tortured a child to put him in a tournament where he could die?!

"After I defeated Kenzo. I chose to escape the island and then I killed every single slave owner there, including your own I'm guessing."

How funny... The murderer of her father was the one who freed her. Kaori would cry at the irony of it if she weren't already doing so...

"I hate you," Kaori eventually said.

"Many people do," the redhead replied, unfazed by her declaration.

"Even though you inadvertently freed me… you still killed my father."

"The fight would have gone differently if he had a water source."

"I spent years looking for answers and this entire time, you mocked and belittled me."

"You are apart of the crew that made my navigator suffer."

He... He had a point.

"...Did he really think about me and Mom in his last moments…?"

"He did. He apologized to you two and I made a vow to him that I'd remember your names and tell you of his honorable death."

Kaori wasn't stupid. She knew that the redhead before her had no choice but to kill her father in that fight. It was very likely, that Kenzo had been actively trying to kill him too.

She had traveled around with the Sun Pirates… with Fisher Tiger and Jinbe and the two had given her a much broader look on life. She wasn't immature enough to blindly blame one person for being put in a similar situation to her.

Slaves didn't have much choices in what they did. Kaori still hated him but that was just not something that logic could ever change.

"...Thank you for killing my former master," she grunted, pulling herself up and wincing at the pain.

"How unorthodox of you to thank me," Rosan replied softly, grabbing the fishman and hauling her up. "Do you plan on continuing to fight for this crew? If so, I will kill you."

"No," Kaori replied honestly, assessing the severe damage done to her body. "I'm a hired gun and after I heal up, I'm going to go to the Grand Line to call my teacher so he can deal with them. After seeing their actions… I can't stand here and let them do what they want anymore."

Nami's eyes widened at the revelation. She was going to go get help to deal with Arlong? Was she really serious?!

"You don't have to worry. Arlong will fall today," Rosan said simply, glancing at her wounds with a tilted head.

"I can believe it… you're way stronger than he is— u-ugh," Kaori grunted, dabbing at a wound and holding back a howl. The water (thank Kami it wasn't salt water) was a small moment of comfort but now the pain was out in full force.

That red fire... Those hellish flames weren't normal. Flames didn't become that shade of red.

"You won't be getting any medical treatment here from people who hate you and those wounds aren't going to heal naturally… Come with me if you want," Rosan offered.

Mod smiled to herself. Rosan may not have realized it, but his family was making him become a better person. Not only did he spare the girl, he was even offering to get her healed!

"S-Shouldn't we be going to help the crew?" Nami asked in concern. She didn't have a problem with Rosan going to heal Kaori, but didn't they need him to finish off Arlong?

"Go to Arlong Park, Nami. Our captain will show you what he's capable of," Rosan said softly. "I'm not the only one you can rely on. Have some faith in all of them."

She was going to protest, but Rosan shot her a firm (by his standards) look and she nodded reluctantly, running off to Arlong Park to go see what he was talking about.

"You're… offering to get me medical attention?" Kaori whispered in disbelief, glancing at the human before her with a startled gaze.

"Yeah, grab onto my hand and close your eyes," the redhead replied to the fishman.

She wasn't used to being treated normal by humans. They didn't really wanna look at her, much less touch her.

This guy was… pretty respectable.

She clasped his hand without hesitation, wincing at the pain it brought her, and the two vanished from their spots.

----------------------------------------

"Demon, Maro. Perfect timing," Rosan greeted the two surprised people with a short wave. "Heal this person for me? She has some severe burns. I'll be back later today."

Not even waiting for a response, the redhead vanished again.

"Huh?" Maro blinked dumbly, glancing between the fishman and the spot her Master had been at repeatedly.

"Come with me, let's get these burns checked out," Demon said, utterly unfazed by the antics of Master and gently pushing her along.

"R-Right," Kaori nodded, allowing herself to get escorted by the purple haired man who looked like the brother of her opponent.

The two promptly left and Maro's jaw began dropping more and more in confusion.

"What the fuck just happened?" The queen mumbled in confusion. She had just been having a conversation with Demon about upgrading the hospital when… a fishman was deposited in front of her to be attended to and now the one who did it was gone.

He didn't even offer an explanation before just leaving...

Ugh, she seriously hated Master sometimes.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

----------------------------------------

"Shark on Darts!"

"Woah!" Luffy said, grabbing onto a part of Arlong's building and leaping over the lunging attack.

"Gomu Gomu no Stamp!" He retaliated, stomping both his feet into the back of Arlong and sending the man careening into a wall.

The rubber boy landed neatly on his feet.

"You…" Arlong snarled in fury. "Is this some type of game to you?! Don't you realize the difference between us?!"

"Nose," Luffy replied bluntly.

…

"Jaw?" He asked questioningly.

…

"Oh! Webbed Hands!"

"RAHHHH!" Arlong roared, throwing caution to the wind and trying to bite Luffy in half.

He chomped at the rubber boy repeatedly and his irritation only grow at each failure. Eventually, he tried to grab at Luffy but the rubber boy was too quick for him and leapt sideways.

"Gomu Gomu no Whip!"

A rubbery leg smashed into Arlong's cheek and sent him crashing, breaking another wall in the process and flooring him for what felt like the umpteenth time.

He burst out the rubbery with a roar of fury, only to be greeted by a fist that smashed and shattered his teeth in the process.

He went crashing back into the building and it began creaking uncomfortably at all the punishment it had been dealt with.

"Water Shot!"

Luffy wasn't fast enough to avoid the surprise attack and it connected solidly with his midsection.

He was sent flying back and landed with a thud on his stomach.

"LUFFY!" Nami screamed in horror, watching his unmoving body and the blood blooming on his red vest. She just knew Rosan should have come to help but she had let him sway her with his words.

Damn that devilish redhead and his way with words!

"SHAHAHAHAHA! NOW YOU GET IT RIGHT?! YOU INFERIOR HUMANS CAN'T DO ANYTHING!" Arlong cackled, growing back his shattered teeth with no effort.

"Yeah, that's right!" Luffy nodded, pushing himself back up with no effort and brushing off his outfit. "I can't scout! I don't know how to use a sword! I can't navigate! I can't cook and I can't tell lies!"

Everyone listened to his speech with a confused expression. Why was he needlessly putting himself down like this? Was he secretly really depressed?

"I know I can't live without help from a lot of people!" The rubber boy declared, glaring at Arlong.

The shark fishman simply roared in laughter. This human had no dignity!

"Shahahahaha! I feel bad for your crew! Having to save an idiot like you must be tiring!" He mocked. "Just what can you do?!"

"I can beat you," Luffy grinned confidently.

"You only have to worry about the things you can do and I'll handle the things you can't," A calm voice spoke up.

Rosan looked at the scenery before him with a tilted head. "Beating this man before I show up is absolutely something you can do. Are you messing around again even though I told you not to?"

His brother was seriously way too playful. His fights would honestly be so much easier if he took them even 5% more serious but unless one of his friends were in immediate danger, he wouldn't do that and would instead put himself in a very stupid situation.

The onlookers looked at the redhead in clear surprise. Not only had he shown up out of nowhere, making them jump in fright, there wasn't a single scratch or injury on his body after walking away with one of, if not, the strongest fishman on the island!

"FATHER!" Ram cheered, leaping on the redhead with expert accuracy and nuzzling him. "I did what you wanted! Are you happy? Pleased? Proud?! Never ask me to do that again or I'll be really fucking pissed with you!"

"Well done, Ram," Rosan said idly, rubbing her silver hair in a soothing manner and getting a happy sigh out of her. She morphed back into a ring and wrapped perfectly around his finger, gleaming unnaturally.

"AUNTIE DID YOU MISS MEEEE?!"

"No. It was so peaceful and quiet until you decided to barge in."

"I MISSED YOU TOO!"

"Please slow dow— oof. R-RAM! LET ME GO!"

"Nope! Nuh uh! And you can't hurt me neither!"

"I hate this already."

"You're the one she calls Father?!" Nojiko gasped. Why did that gorgeous woman call him that? Was that their kink? They looked the same age... Did she just TRANSFORM INTO A RING?!

What the FUCK?!

She began looking for any sign of injury and sighed in relief at seeing none. Did his previous outfit get destroyed in the fight…? He sure changed fast.

"THAT SCARY GIRL IS YOUR RING?! THAT SCARY GIRL IS A RING?!" Onlookers screamed in shock.

How the fuck did that make sense?! Was she a human that could transform into a ring... or a ring that could transform into a human?! Wait, WHY WAS THIS THE QUESTION THEY WERE WONDERING ABOUT? THAT GORGEOUS WOMAN JUST TRANSFORMED INTO A RING AFTER CALLING THE REDHEAD FATHER!

Nami didn't even know Rosan could bring Ram into the physical world! Could he do that with Mod-chan? She desperately wanted to talk to the woman more to just discuss anything really. The Devil Fruit's words were incredibly insightful and it showed where Rosan inherited his intelligence from.

Rosan nodded at Nojiko's question, before leaning back slightly to avoid a kick from Sanji. He glanced at the injured blonde and tilted his head curiously.

"What was that for?"

"Justice."

"...Enact your justice after this battle," Rosan said dismissively, not even bothering to question the chef. "Luffy, do I have to continue your training? I knew I should have kept it up even after we set sail but I had faith that I managed to get my point across."

The captain's eyes widened in rare fear at that statement because if that happened… Rosan would steal all his meat!

"Trying to give your useless captain a pep talk?" Arlong mocked. "Don't worry, I haven't forgotten what you've done, redhead human. After I'm done with him, you're nex —"

"Gomu Gomu no Bazooka!"

Arlong's eyes rolled to the back of his head momentarily, at the heavy double strike to his gut and he went soaring into the building. The shark man tried to pull himself back up but he spat out a glob of blood as another fist shattered his newly grown teeth again.

"Gomu Gomu no Bullet!"

"Hey… Luffy is a lot more aggressive now," Sanji pointed out, reminded of the overwhelming onslaught he had done against Krieg.

"I've never seen Luffy scared of anything," Zoro grunted, glancing back at Rosan and wondering just what hellish training he put the rubber boy through.

"I've been with Luffy for 10 years, I know how to properly motivate him," the redhead muttered. "Well done on winning your battles, even you Usopp."

"SPEAKING OF WHICH! WHY DID YOU TELL LUFFY TO PUSH ME INTO ONE OF THEM AND WHAT HAPPENED TO MY HAMMER?" The sniper screamed, mostly angry, somewhat curious.

"I made your hammer an actual effective weapon by giving it an explosive feature and adding a blunt force trauma effect. The moment you activate it for the first time though, it will rapidly increase in weight so your motivated to get strong enough in order to carry it normally. Also, I made Luffy push you into one of them so you didn't think about running off," Rosan explained quietly.

The explosive feature and blunt force feature was actually from one of his techniques when Ram was in glove form. It was called Retribution and he performed it by placing his glove directly on your body and forming an explosive effect, while building up its own kinetic energy. It was very fun to use and he very much enjoyed annoying Ace and Maro with it.

Everyone blinked at that. How the fuck did he do all that? Was it his unknown Devil Fruit?

Usopp's eyes glittered at the explanation. Rosan's ability to craft seemed incredibly useful! They could brainstorm some things together in the future!

Then, he registered the second part of his statement.

"JOKES ON YOU! I RAN AWAY ANYWAYS!"

"You surpassed my expectations," Rosan praised.

"That… sounds like an insult."

They sweatdropped at their interaction.

"What about you? You don't look injured," Zoro commented with a raised brow.

"I'm not injured because the fight wasn't hard. That's all," he replied softly. Kaori was good but not enough to ever worry him.

Everyone went into shocked silence at hearing his declaration. Not hard? Just who was this guy? Kaori rarely displayed feats of strength but she didn't need to because it wasn't necessary. The female fishman was a monster in combat and the fact that he completely brushed off her battle...

"YOU DAMN HUMANS!" Arlong roared, bursting out of the rubble with a gigantic sword. It was a giant black pole with six shark tooth-shaped black blades on one side.

The shark fishman's eyes were narrowed into slits and he was breathing heavily. His anger at Luffy had reached its boiling point and his skin was bulging with veins.

"I'LL TEAR YOU LIMB FROM LIMB!"

"Oh no, it's his Kiribachi," Nami muttered, fearful for Luffy's life. That was Arlong's personal weapon and she had never seen anyone survive its onslaught.

"Observe," Rosan muttered to her, making her jump slightly. "The only thing stopping this fight from being over, is Luffy's playful nature. Even with that weapon, he will win."

"How can you be so confident?" Nami asked in wonder. Rosan never doubted Luffy and it was awe inspiring.

"I expect nothing less from someone who managed to become my captain," he replied easily.

Luffy jumped back from a downward swing that completely shattered the floor he had been standing on.

Arlong swung with reckless abandon, chasing Luffy all around the Park and destroying everything in his path with no regard.

"Oh, is that what he's doing?"

"He's trying to get Arlong to destroy his own dream. How ruthless."

Rosan smiled at that.

The fishman eventually chased Luffy into the building and the rubber boy deftly dodged everything launched his way. This only served to make the bruised fishman angrier and his swings became even more reckless.

"That room…" Nami whispered, recognizing it immediately with a nervous expression.

"Modification: Stream," Rosan thought to himself, placing his palm up and showing everyone there what was currently happening.

"So useful!" everyone thought.

Luffy ducked under a vicious swing that tore one of the walls of the building straight off and sent an array of paper scattering.

"Shit," Arlong cursed at his mistake, snapping out of his rage when he realized whose room he was in the process of destroying.

"Hm? What is this place?" Luffy asked in confusion, noting all the papers and the marked pen.

Despite his rage, Arlong couldn't keep the proud, smug smile off his face.

"This is where I made Nami draw sea charts for the past 8 years," he revealed, grinning savagely at the memories. "We fishman can gather oceanic data excellently, but without a skilled cartographer, it's worthless."

"Nami's a genius. She's doing what she loves and I get a valuable tool."

Luffy wasn't listening to him. He picked up a pen with shadowed eyes.

"There's blood on this pen."

Arlong ignored him, too caught up in his maniacal tirade.

"Once Nami draws charts of all the world's oceans, nothing will be able to stop the Fishman! THE WHOLE WORLD WILL BE MY KINGDOM AND WE'RE STARTING WITH THE EAST BLUE!"

Arlong measured Kiribachi at the rubber boy. "You think you can use Nami better than us?"

"Tool? Use?" Luffy whispered lowly, placing the bloodied pen on the floor gently.

The rubber boy suddenly grabbed Arlong's blade and though the fishman tried, he could not budge it an inch.

Much to his disbelief, the rubber boy's grip shattered his weapon in half.

"Just what do you take Nami for?" Luffy snarled, glaring at Arlong with barely repressed fury.

Despite his surprise, Arlong never lost his confidence.

That was a mistake.

"She's an inferior species, but a smart one. If you humans were sewer rats, Nami would be a cheeky-as-hell cat," the shark said smugly.

Arlong was gonna keep buying her clothes and everything she wanted. She would never have a single complaint and she would be doing what she loved.

Of course he'd look out for her, they were crewmates after all —

A hand grabbed the side of his head, before slamming Arlong into the desk and sending it flying through a wall.

He was lifted up and brutally thrown into a stack of paper, not stopping until yet another wall caved under his weight.

Before he could go flying, a rubbery hand grabbed him and dragged him back into the room, tossing him into a cabinet of books this time.

Arlong tried to struggle in his grasp, but Luffy's grip was unforgiving.

"W-What the fuck are you doing?!" Arlong gasped out. "M-My charts? You're destroying eight years of hard work? Do you have any idea how much effort Nami has put into those?!"

The fishman was forcefully brought face to face with Luffy's cold glare by his nose and the fishman tried to break out of it with futile effort. "I don't care how great you are. I don't care about any sea charts. None of that means anything to me but I finally know how to save her."

Arlong screeched in agony as his unbreakable nose was bent again and Luffy tossed him aside.

"As long as this room exists. Nami is stuck here so I'm going to destroy it all," he finished coldly.

"L-Luffy," Nami sobbed, tears forming in her eyes. "Thank you!"

Everyone watched her cry with a fond smile.

Rosan said nothing as he watched the battle reach its climax.

"Gomu Gomu no…"

Luffy shot his leg high up into the air and it stretched until it broke through the ceiling.

Arlong's eyes bugged as he realized what that filthy human was trying to do.

No. NO. NOT ALL HIS YEARS OF HARD WORK! WHO DID THIS HUMAN THINK HE WAS? WHAT DID HE THINK HE WAS DOING?!

"A HUMAN CAN'T DESTROY FISHMAN ISLAND! IT'S IMPOSSIBLE! YOU'LL DIE HERE AND NOW!" Arlong roared hysterically, fixing his nose and charging the rubber boy.

"SHARK TOOTH DRILL!"

The fishman began spinning rapidly at full speed, with his mouth wide open. He reached the vulnerable captain and sunk every single tooth into the boy's sides, drawing a river of blood from the rubber boy.

It was not enough.

"...BATTLE AXE!" Luffy roared, ignoring the pain and bringing his foot down.

Arlong's eyes rolled to the back of his head as the foot crashed into his body and he was knocked unconscious.

But that wasn't all.

So great was the impact, that Luffy's foot drove the fishman through every single floor of the building until his body was firmly embedded into the pavement.

Luffy gingerly touched the area where Arlong had sunk his fangs into and grunted at the sting.

That was gonna need to be patched up.

The shaking of the building caught his attention and he completely ignored a piece of debris bouncing off his head.

"OH NO! ARLONG PARKS ABOUT TO FALL ON US!"

"EVERYONE RUN!"

"NAMI? ROSAN? C'MON LET'S GO!" Johnny tried to urge them both.

"No," Rosan said blandly, uncaring of the destruction going on. He had since shut off his connection with the bird and stood stationary, watching the building collapse with a neutral expression.

Nami nodded in panic. "L-Luffy's still in there! We can't just leave him!"

But there was nothing she could do currently. She could only watch in horror, as the entire building crashed with a thunderous THUD, shaking the very Earth around them.

"LUFFY!" Nami screamed in panic.

Rosan remained silent, a picture perfect depiction of unbothered. Somehow the redhead managed to avoid getting hit by every single piece of flying debris and that left them stumped.

(He just summoned a wall to block it from hitting him. Nothing so outrageous)

Everyone could only watch in anticipation as the smoke began to settle. They were unsure of what happened at the end of the battle and the rising tension was killing them.

"NAMIIIIII!" A voice screamed, bringing tears of relief to her eyes.

Standing on top of the ruins of Arlong Park, one Monkey D. Luffy looked Nami directly in her eyes and she let out a strangled sob at his victory.

"YOU'RE MY FRIEND!" He roared to the heavens.

Nami tried desperately wiping her eyes and when that failed, she gave up and smiled brightly.

"Yeah!" She beamed, tears falling freely.

That seemed to disperse all the tension, as realization finally set in.

"ARLONG PARK HAS FALLEN!"

"WE WON!"

"HE DID IT!"

Relief flooded through every single person's body and they began cheering in earnest. Tears of joy overwhelmed nearly all the citizens who had been subject to Arlong's rule for so long.

Their neverending nightmare was over. They were free.

Rosan silently moved away from the crowd converging around his brother and found a nice and secluded spot to relax in.

"Well?"

"He did good," Rosan whispered softly, gazing at the crowd throwing his brother up in the air.

"He could have finished it faster," Mod pointed out but she was smiling a proud smile.

"That's true but, I think this resulted in a better outcome."

"I agree."

Everyone's celebration was cut short, as the same Marine who had stolen Nami's money, Nezumi, showed up to confiscate all the treasure that Arlong had amassed.

He loudly proclaimed that he would be taking all the credit as well and it was a wonder how he didn't sense all the distaste directed towards him.

He sure was confident in his ability. Typical of a Marine.

All that confidence flew out of the window, as Zoro grabbed ahold of him.

"Don't ruin people's fun when they're finally happy," the swordsman said coldly.

What followed next, was a pummeling by the other male straw hats onto the corrupt Marines that was not even remotely close, despite the battles they were just in.

After that, Nami delivered a brutal strike with her staff to his cheek that sent him flying.

She then threatened him into promising to get help with reparations of Gosa and sent him on his way (not without him listing numerous threats onto the pirate crew).

Rosan's dual eyes never left the retreating Marine.

Then the celebration began in earnest. The villagers went to go tell everyone else the good news and they ran off with cheers.

"Rosan! What are you doing all the way over there!" His crew called, grabbing his attention.

"Letting you guys hog all the spotlight," he muttered, standing up to meet them. "Good job, Luffy. You can have your food."

"YAY!" Luffy cheered happily.

"Oh, Rosan!" Nami's eyes lit up. "Do you think you can help us with reparations?"

"Sure. I'll be done quickly," he replied easily. Modification would make it easy if that was what he focused on.

She smiled gratefully at him. Then another thought made her eyes widen in horror.

"Since we won… does that mean you want your money back?" Nami asked, thinking of the 100 million he gave her.

"Keep it or give it to your villagers. I don't care either way."

"You're the best big bro!" Nami sobbed, throwing herself on the redhead and wetting his outfit with her crocodile tears.

"You need help," Rosan muttered, tilting his head in confusion at the steely glare Sanji was shooting his way.

Since when were they on bad terms?

----------------------------------------

Rosan stared at the unconscious bodies of the Fishman Pirates, ignoring the dead bodies of the Marines around him with an apathetic gaze.

He inspected each one and nodded in satisfaction.

His crew did good. He was particularly impressed with the damage done to the one with the big mouth because it showed that Usopp actually put up a good fight.

Perhaps he was worth a little of his attention.

"Where is the octopus?" Mod asked in confusion.

"Bah, he probably escaped. Green shits injuries were holding him back plenty so he probably couldn't use his full power to take him out."

It didn't matter. That octopus was an idiot who was easily manipulated. If he used him as a baseline, some clones would be very... peculiar.

These would do fine. Arlong in particular, was much stronger then the others here so he'd serve as a good baseline for Hiroshi.

A Grand Line level crew of Fishman patrolling both Fregate and Celadon's waters... They'd be impenetrable and that's exactly what he wanted.

They were the islands of his dear allies after all. He would provide them all the protection they needed in case he wasn't able to protect them.

Decision made, he deepened their sleep further and sent them off to his Pocket Dimension so that they could be properly transported.

"Now," he thought, eyes transforming into slits as he flew up to stare down at the ship filled with corpses. "It's time to erase evidence."

They never saw him coming. Rosan was on business so he forewent torturing them and instead opted for assasination.

One hit. One kill. Not even a call went through. They would be the victims of a freak storm.

He contemplated framing something but he didn't want the Marines to connect what he was about to do next so let them think this one just vanished.

With that, he charged his dragon's signature flames and fired.

----------------------------------------

Something was wrong, Nezumi could feel it in his bones because his bones were turning downright frosty.

"Captain Nezumi? You were talking to us about a pirate named Luffy?" The Marine on the other line called.

Nezumi shook his head rapidly and focused back on the topic at hand. Yes, that was right. That damn straw hat had ruined everything and he was going to get a bounty placed on his head, courtesy of him for being so annoying.

He was currently in the process of sending over his picture, when he felt an unspeakable chill crawl down his spine.

Something fell behind him and he quickly turned around to see what it was—

Nothing. He was just being paranoid right now. The only other person in the room, was the Marine that was listening to him report Luffy. He was currently standing guard at the door and regarded Nezumi with a confused expression at being stared at.

Yeah, that's right. His head was still hurting from the beating the pirates gave him so it was likely that he was hallucinating stuff.

That's right.

"Captain Nezu — gacha."

...

The call ended.

Nezumi wasn't the one who ended the call.

Who just ended the call?

The man's heart began slamming against his chest as he slowly turned back around to regard the sleeping snail.

W-What was going on—

"AHHHH!" He let out a shrill scream.

Staring at him, clad in all black, was a redhead stranger with a lifeless expression. He idly pet the sleeping snail and hummed a gentle tune.

"Greetings, Captain Nezumi," the man said politely, standing up and making a show of stretching. "While I was busy, it seems like you gave my dear little brother a bounty..."

"He'll be happy about that," Rosan hummed.

"Y-You!" Nezumi called in surprise, recognizing him immediately. "You're apart of that Luffy's crew! W-What are you all doing here? Come to raid a navy base?!"

"You don't have to worry. It's just me here," Rosan assured, disappearing momentarily and grabbing the one other shocked Marine in the room with the two conversing.

The grunt was taking aim at the redhead, shocked to see him appear so suddenly but his plans of shooting him were put on halt as the pirate appeared right in front of him.

He held the grunt up by the neck and stared at him.

"You shouldn't point such dangerous weapons at people. It might put your life in danger," he advised calmly.

The poor Marine began struggling in his grasp, eyes going wide in terror as the redhead began to steadily squeeze.

"H-Help! Please help me!" He rasped, tears flooding his eyes as his pants grew wet.

Rosan nodded kindly. "Don't worry. I'll help you find a better profession in your next life. Consider not working for such corrupt people again."

With that, the redead effortlessly snapped the man's neck with a brutal crack and tossed him to the side like he were a piece of trash.

"A-A-Ah no. No. No. No..." Nezumi watched in horror as his subordinates lifeless body flew through the air and landed like he were just a simple ragdoll.

He felt that cold chill in his body, transform into a blizzard as he gazed at the nightmare in human flesh.

W-What was even going on? Why… why was this redhead here? W-Was this really happening?!

Why was he staring right at him?!

"Can I tell you something?" Rosan asked softly, unmoved by his casual act of murder. He stared at the discarded body with apathy.

"Since I was four years old, I've always hated the Marines," Rosan admitted, not waiting for Nezumi's response. "I doubt someone like you would ever understand but they took something very important from me."

"But do you want to know what I hate more than a normal Marine?" The redhead whispered.

He pinned Nezumi to the table with his gaze alone and said, "I really hate the corrupt Marines."

Nezumi began shaking in true terror as the stench of blood finally reached him.

"You asked what I'm doing here? Well, while you were giving my captain a bounty, I was out there slaughtering all of your troops. Every single one of them are dead."

He inclined his head to the still body right there. "That was the last one of your guys. It's just you and me and whoever was on the other line of that call. I suspect their getting ready to call you back soon."

"Wait!" Nezumi screeched, stepping back in terror as the redhead slowly approached him. "What do you want? Money? I have plenty I can give you!"

Rosan's response, was to simply grab him by the neck and body slam him onto the table.

"Trying to collaborate with yet another pirate? You should know by now that your corruptness is the reason you're about to die," he whispered and Nezumi tried to struggle in his impossibly strong grasp but he was helpless to stop what happened next.

Rosan skewered him through the table with a silver sword, cutting off any thought processes and making the man squeal.

"UGHHHHHHHHHHH SOMEONE HELP! SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!" Nezumi howled, grasping weakly at the sword gluing him to the table.

It hurt. It hurt so bad! He didn't want to die. HE DIDN'T WANT TO DIE!

"You serve no purpose beyond making other's lives more difficult. You have no right to be alive," the redhead declared, staring into his soul as the life drained out of them.

"You can understand right? Wouldn't the world be a better place without you? Don't you get that your greed is an inconvenience to people?" Rosan asked softly, genuinely.

The redhead buried the blade deeper and deeper, making sure to miss anywhere that would instantly kill him.

"I'm just here to help you figure that out. It's not like I personally hate you. I just want you to realize that you're doing us all a favor. You understand, right?"

Nezumi flailed about weakly at the words of the demon before him. There were tears streaming down his face as Rosan got closer and closer until he was face to face with hell itself.

The redhead stared at him and watched as the life slowly but surely left his eyes. He was content to let the man suffer for a bit but a death like this just wouldn't do.

After a moment, he withdrew his sword from the man's chest, ignoring the fountain of blood that didn't touch him and sprouted his draconic wings.

With one flap, he burst through the ceiling and rubble began to fall everywhere.

The Den Den Mushi chose that moment to begin ringing and unbeknownst to Rosan (who would have cursed at his slight mistake), Nezumi's desperate flailing, managed to miraculously cause it to pick up.

"Captain Nezumi!" The Marine on the other side said in annoyance. "Hanging up before the conversation is over, is ru —"

Nezumi coughing up a river a blood, cut him off. The sound was wet and raspy and it filled the Marine with a cold feeling.

"Captain Nezumi? What's going on? Are you alright?" He asked in concern

"Red… Demon… Killed—" Nezumi tried to say through a river of blood, desperately trying to convey a message through the den den and failing miserably.

He needed to inform them… of another member of the… Straw Hats… the redhead… demon.

"CAPTAIN NEZUMI? ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!" The Marine on the other line repeated. "Red Demon…? We're dispatching another branch to your base right now. Hang in there!"

"Ragnarok."

Nezumi wasn't listening anymore. No, his eyes were latched onto the massive shadow looming above him.

The massive shadow looking at him.

He should have given more warnings about the Straw Hats. Straw Hat didn't deserve such a low bounty in hindsight. If he could properly control something like this... Straw Hat needed something even higher.

T-This wasn't something that an average Marine could deal with. Not even the fishman would have been able to protect him from this… this thing.

Straw Hat Luffy wasn't the only problem in that crew. Perhaps Straw Hat wasn't even the biggest problem.

How could he be the biggest problem when there was a Devil lurking in their midst?

"Destroy all evidence before they get suspicious," Rosan thought to himself, glancing down at the Marine Base.

"RAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Was the last thing Nezumi and the Marine on the other line heard.

----------------------------------------

"Rosan! I told you not to spend too much time repairing Gosa," Nami admonished the redhead, gazing at all the fixed buildings with awe on her features.

He even flipped them back upright! Her scout was seriously incredible!

"Apologies, I wanted to make sure I was thoroughly finished," the redhead replied, double checking to make sure he didn't have any blood on him.

It was unlikely but he could never be too sure.

"Don't worry, I told everyone not to visit while you were working on it. Wouldn't want anyone else to figure out your Devil Fruit," Nami informed him and he nodded thankfully at their useful navigator while absentmindedly pulling her into a hug.

"Well done," he praised her, patting her on the head and getting it slapped away in return.

"Don't ruin my hair," she grumbled in annoyance.

She didn't break the hug though.

The hug felt nice.

"Oh, I thought that was the look you were going for and was just trying to help."

He dodged the wild swing aimed at him and deftly tossed the fuming navigator over his shoulder.

"Why is everyone trying to hard to hit me lately… Keep it up and I'll start training you," Rosan told her.

"NO THANKS! NOW PUT ME DOWN!" She answered swiftly, repeatedly beating his back to no success and struggling in his grip... to no success. He wasn't even flinching slightly from her blows! What was this guy made of?!

Goddamnit she hated Rosan.

----------------------------------------

Rosan sat a ways away from all the celebrating with a cup of sake that had been forcefully shoved in his hands by one of the increasingly grabby women.

The celebration was in full swing right now and he had excused himself from the more… touchy ones. They had been forcing him to dance with them near nonstop and not seeing any fault in it, he said yes.

That was a mistake. He wasn't sure how many people he danced with but they were surely trying to test his near limitless stamina. Men and women alike seemed to want a piece of him and it was rather startling.

Perhaps he should have never learned how to dance but his pride (and the memories of Robin laughing repeatedly at his horrible dancing while she did a fantastic job herself) demanded he master such a skill in case he needed it for infiltration.

Well, that's what he told himself at least. He hardly did a infiltration mission that required him to be undercover. He definitely mastered dancing for his wounded childish pride.

Alas, he finally managed to slink away so that he could enjoy a moment of peace.

He had no idea defeating one of the officers would net him so much popularity but his social skills were never the greatest.

"That's a lie! Don't you remember that one woman whose house you broke into when Robin was sick? You two became friends after speaking for two minutes!"

"Ah, you mean Hana. I wonder how she's doing?" Rosan hummed in curiosity.

That was a fun day. He hoped Goro had no side effects from the very gentle jam he did to him.

A figure sat next to him and he inclined his head to regard the person. "Sanji."

"Rosan," the chef replied back calmly, handing the redhead a plate of rice and shrimp.

Rosan accepted it with a thank you and said, "Is this my best meal?"

Surprisingly, the chef shook his head. "I tried cooking it up but I felt like I could do better if I keep improving so no. Until I feel proud of that dish I promised you, you can enjoy my frequent failures once a day."

The redhead nodded and took a bite of the rice and shrimp combination, humming at the taste.

Sanji didn't want to make it too obvious but he eyed the redhead's reaction in anticipation.

"You know, this is actually my first time eating your food, considering you avoided me nonstop at the Baratie."

The blonde blushed in embarrassment. "There was a lot going on okay! How does the food taste, shitty redhead?!"

The redhead didn't answer him, taking another bite and humming again. His voice was surprisingly pleasant but Sanji couldn't really enjoy that because of how nervous he suddenly felt.

"Why do you call this dish a failure?" Rosan asked suddenly.

"...Why? Because it's not the best dish I promised you," the chef replied bluntly.

It was his best work currently, that was for sure. But his best work currently wasn't the limit of what he could do. He could get better. He would continuously strive to make that dish and Rosan would be his test subject every day if he had to be.

"...If that's the case, I look forward to eating something you consider a success. This is the best meal I've ever had," Rosan said, smiling softly and polishing the rest of the meal off. "You've grown Sanji. I'm proud to see you striving closer to your dreams. I knew you could do it."

Sanji felt his heart soar at that declaration and the chef was unable to hide the blinding grin that made its way onto his face.

He said it! He really did remember Sanji's promise all those years ago!

"See! I told you! It's good eh and I can get even better!" The blonde bragged.

"And you plan on giving me my own meal every day? I feel so spoiled," Rosan responded. Having such a good chef on the crew was a great thing for them all. He'd have to make sure the fridge was always fully stocked up on food.

"So how has life been treating you?" The redhead asked calmly, glancing down into his cup and downing it. The moment he finished it off, someone replaced it with another and he raised a brow at the lingering touch on him.

Were... Were they watching him this whole time?

"You need to get away soon, my danger senses are going off," Mod said nervously. By danger senses, she meant Rosan's chastity of course. The threat to that was far more important to her then someone attacking him.

"It'll be fine... I think."

"A little tough, but mostly good… What about you? From Bounty Hunter to Pirate…" Sanji replied, taking a seat next to the redhead.

Rosan hummed softly. "It's been eventful since we met. We beat your father, you know? Grim and I. Unfortunately, we weren't able to fully get rid of him before his soldiers appeared."

Sanji froze at that. "You two… beat him?"

"Yeah, he deserved it," the redhead responded simply. "Though… he didn't have his raid suit with him so that made it easier for us."

Sanji remained silent. To be honest, a part of him was relieved that Reaper didn't kill his father. He didn't want Judge dead, he just wanted to escape from him.

"You're a kind kid, to be relieved by your abuser's safety," Rosan remarked softly.

"Don't call me kid like that damn old man... Why were you guys raiding Germa anyways?"

"Grim wanted a challenge and we chose Germa. Then, we stole the blueprints to the Raid Suit."

Sanji quirked a brow in clear surprise. "You have the blueprints to the Raid Suit?!"

The redhead nodded and revealed his armband. "This is it. It's very useful."

Sanji nodded in agreement, confused as to why it wasn't in a canister but not doubting the redhead's claim. He knew all about the raid suit due to his upbringing and to know Rosan had one, made him all the more powerful.

"Does anyone know of your ties with Germa?"

"Just you and Grim… speaking of which, where are they?" Sanji asked in return.

"Running a kingdom in the North Blue. She's currently married to my sister."

"Grim's a she and she's married to your sister?!"

He wondered how they look?

"For 5 years now. You'll meet her one day, she's been getting more and more eager to meet you all plus she'll recognize you. Also, my sister looks like a female version of me."

A female version of Rosan... Sanji could begrudgingly admit that the redhead was not ugly so his sister must be gorgeous.

"She is. Maro is quite beautiful as well and the two are constantly receiving attention wherever they go."

"By the way... what did you do to be forcefully retired?"

"Killed someone very important for trying to enslave me," Rosan replied instantly, face neutral.

"He tried to what?!" Sanji barked in fury, making sure his voice didn't get too loud.

Enslave Reaper?! What the fuck?! You couldn't just try and trap the Angel of Death! No wonder the Shinigami went and killed him!

But he wondered just who the man killed... had to have been some type of noble or Marine or something.

Eh, he didn't care. Good riddance.

The two continued to talk to each other and Sanji couldn't keep the smile off his face. To think he'd be in a crew with the one who he admired for so long and they were having a normal conversation.

The world worked in funny ways.

Speaking of which…

"That beautiful woman… Ram," Sanji said gravely. "She's your… weapon? That you have on 24/7? Who never wants to leave your side? Who you use for combat?"

Rosan tilted his head at the sudden topic switch but nodded. "That's right. She is only loyal to me. We've been together for around 12 years."

He and that woman had been together for 12 years. That gorgeous, jaw dropping beauty only answered to him... Lucky son of a —

"There you are! I thought they were never gonna leave you alone!" Nojiko beamed. Her face was flushed red and it was clear that she had one drink too many.

"Big sis!" Sanji swooned, walking up to meet her.

His jaw dropped as she completely ignored him.

The woman dove onto a stationary Rosan and began tugging him insistently. "I'm gonna borrow your friend for the rest of the night! See ya~" She called, not letting either refuse.

"Nojiko… you're drunk. Do you know what you're doing right now? Do you know who I am?" Rosan asked, resisting her pull a bit.

"I'm pulling away a hot redhead named Rosan. Duh. Have you seen the way you've been getting eyed by everyone?" Nojiko slurred, raising a brow as she continued tugging his sleeve. "I've got dibs and I'm cashing in before someone else does or I blackout from the alcohol!"

Rosan simply sighed and allowed her to drag him away. Eventually, the two vanished from a stunned Sanji's gaze.

He fell to his knees and punched the floor in despair.

"It should have been me!" He sobbed, clutching his heart.

He hated Rosan. Why?! WHY WAS THAT DAMN ROBOT SO POPULAR?! WHAT WASN'T HE UNDERSTANDING?!

Unknown to him, a certain purple haired woman shared the same sentiment as the chef.

"Why are you so popular?" Mod moaned sadly, covering her face with both hands. She just knew he should have gotten away.

----------------------------------------

"Take care of my little sister, alright?" An exhausted Nojiko requested, staring at the nonchalant Rosan with a glare.

She had seen Genzo talking to the rubber captain before getting a bit... drunk, so she decided to talk to the first one of the straw hats she had met and trusted the most.

"Why are you telling this to me? I'm not the captain, just a humble scout," Rosan said softly, idly holding the woman upright so she didn't fall.

Nojiko raised a brow at his self proclaimed title.

He was anything but normal (or humble) but for some reason, he wasn't keen on showing anyone his true capabilities.

The Straw Hats were currently packing and getting ready to leave, when she pulled the redhead to the side to have a talk with him.

"I'm telling you because you're the one I trust the most," Nojiko admitted. He forced her to open her eyes to the truth of Arlong lying, protected her from their potential wrath and completely repaired a destroyed Gosa all by himself.

And he wondered why he was suddenly so popular with their citizens. What would have taken them months or years, he finished instantly.

Who was Rosan, really?

"I'm not someone worthy of trust but… I'll see what I can do," the redhead replied. He liked Nami. She was someone who knew about the darkness of the world, just like him and they formed... a bond from that.

He'd keep her safe.

"Anything else you want to say to me before I board the ship?"

Nojiko was about to say no before a mischievous grin made its way onto her face. "That's a really gorgeous tattoo you have. You shouldn't be so reluctant to show it off like you're doing right now."

Rosan glanced down slightly at his long sleeved purple shirt and hummed. "My sister would appreciate that comment... After killing you of course. I'll keep that in mind for the future. I'm quite fond of wearing long sleeved clothing."

"Booo, you're no fun. At least feel the slightest bit embarrassed," Nojiko pouted, rolling her eyes in the process. His sister would kill her? He sure had quite the crazy family.

The redhead snorted quietly and walked away with a short wave, making her stumble from the loss of support. "As if you could ever embarrass me when this is how you are after one night."

"I WAS CAUGHT OFF GUARD AND DRUNK!"

"Whatever helps you sleep better at night."

"FUCK OFF!"

"I hate you," Sanji said to the redhead, staring lifelessly at him.

"Is that all you're going to say now whenever we speak?" Rosan asked with a tilted head.

"I hate you."

"Right. Figured," he nodded. He was about to go retreat further into the ship, when he realized their navigator hadn't boarded yet.

Almost as if on cue, Nami showed up behind all the waving villagers and ordered for them to set sail, before running through all of the citizens without pausing.

"YOU'RE GONNA LEAVE WITHOUT SAYING GOODBYE?!"

"LET US THANK YOU AT LEAST!"

Nami ignored it all, weaving and dodging everyone in her path before she leapt to the sailing ship.

Back facing her old village, the navigator pushed up her shirt and an array of wallets fell out.

"She didn't…" Genzo gaped.

"MY WALLET'S GONE!"

"MINE TOO?"

"SHE STOLE IT?"

"She did…" Nojiko sighed fondly.

"Take care, everyone!" Nami grinned smugly, waving at them with a stolen bill in her hand.

"YOU DAMN SNEAK THIEF!" They roared.

"That was impressive," Mod smiled fondly.

"She's good," Rosan nodded.

"GET BACK HERE!"

"GIVE US BACK OUR WALLETS!"

"COME BACK SOON!"

"WE'RE GRATEFUL TO YOU ALL!"

"BYE EVERYONE! I'LL BE BACK!" Nami grinned ear to ear, waving both arms.

----------------------------------------

Rosan expected Maro to be glaring at him when he showed up and he was aware that lately she had begun chucking stuff in her annoyance...

The redhead caught the table thrown at him and skidded back a few steps from the force behind it.

...But wasn't this a bit much?

"People normally throw their shoes. Not tables," Rosan commented, walking up to place it down in front of the annoyed queen. It was a good thing she had finished up her paperwork else they'd have to spend some time rearranging it.

"Not only did you not even explain the situation to me… you left me with the duty of telling Angel you visited without seeing her," Maro snarled, fury painted all over her features.

"You've been growing your hair out?" Rosan asked, grabbing a strand of white and blue and inspecting it. It was going a bit past her chin now, which was a surprise considering she kept it at chin length since she was 11.

His student liked her hair short so that it didn't get in the way. It was a surprise to see one of her bangs flowing a bit past her eyes now.

"Don't change the subject!" The Dokkaebi barked, not moving his hand out of the way. "...But yes, I wanted to grow it a bit past my shoulders. Angel thought I'd look cute with longer hair and I haven't gotten into too much of a serious fight lately so I figured I'd give it a shot."

"I think it'd look good on you so long as it doesn't impede," Rosan agreed, getting a happy scowl out of her. "Sorry for leaving so abruptly the other day, I was in the middle of a battle with the Arlong Pirates."

The 23 year old's eyes widened in interest and she pushed herself up so that they could walk around the castle together.

"So Kaori was apart of their crew, right? Those burns looked like they were done by your dragon," she pointed out and the redhead nodded.

"She was my opponent. A long time ago, when I was captured, I fought and killed her father," he informed her. He didn't miss how affectionately the queen referred to her so he guessed they were getting along.

What a pleasant surprise. Rosan was sure the fishman would have tried to attack them and Maro would have had to put her out of her misery.

Maro's mouth opened. "You mean that fishman you fought when you were imprisoned?! That was her dad?! Wow, considering she allowed you to bring her here and didn't cause a fuss… She's really mature!"

"I thought the same thing."

The two approached Demon's room and entered without knocking, seeing as the door was slightly ajar.

"Oh, hi Master," the younger clone greeted, standing up to hug his older brother.

"Greetings, Demon," Rosan hummed, patting the shorter clone on his purple head. "Thank you for healing my guest with no questions."

"Of course. As a doctor, its my job to care for my patients," he grinned.

A snarl of irritation alerted Rosan to the table flying at him and he deftly caught it before it could crash and break on his body.

"Why are you all throwing tables at me?" Rosan asked in curiosity.

"Cause you visited without telling me," Angel growled, marching up to her older brother with a look that promised pain.

"I was in quite the rush. We were in the middle of a pirate battle so that I could free my navigator," the Mod Mod no Mi user explained, holding her by the shoulders to placate her.

"He's right," a voice said. "What was happening over there needed to be dealt with quickly. Seeing as you're alive… I take it Arlong's been defeated?"

"Ah, Kaori," Rosan greeted. "Yes, Arlong's been defeated by my captain. We've freed Nami and the villagers from his clutches. How are your injuries?"

"I'm mostly just sore now… Demon is really good at what he does," Kaori praised. The purple haired clone didn't even bat an eye at the fact that she was a fishman that stood nearly a foot taller than him.

The doctor just diligently worked on her body while tutting his teeth and saying, "Master really needs to learn to hold back more. Just because he thinks he's holding back a sufficient amount doesn't mean he actually is..."

He even made small talk with her! It's like he didn't care that she was an intimidating fishman.

Actually, none of them cared that she was a fishman… she had never met such weird humans before. The queen immediately apologized for Rosan's behavior and the two hit it off from there once Kaori cracked a smile at her complaints about the redhead being a complete ass.

She… she liked them. Even the female redhead who was rude at first but warmed up to her after realizing she was being unintentionally hostile.

"Arlong Pirates?" Angel raised a brow. "Isn't that the crew of fishmen Maro was talking to me about one day? You guys got in a brawl with them? Tell us all about it!"

"Right," Rosan nodded but before he could do that, he glanced towards Kaori. "What will you do now, Kaori? You said you wanted to find your Master?"

"Yes, his names Jinbe… I wanted to find him but since everything's been dealt with… if your majesty doesn't mind, I'd like to stay here for a little longer," the fishman stated, looking a bit embarrassed to be asking.

"Awww!" Maro gushed in happiness and glomped the fishman, much to her surprise. "You can stay here as long as you like, Kaori! Everyone in the castle already likes you and you're really nice so we'd be happy to have you! We can even spar together! It'll be soooo fun! You know, I have a Devil Fruit! I can turn into a giant green goblin called a Dokkaebi and it lets me do so much things like grow plants faster! Oh! But that doesn't really help me with combat! I can use fire too! But I'm not as rude with it as Master is so you don't gotta worry!"

Kaori felt her head spinning at how rapidly Maro was speaking but she couldn't keep the fond smile off her face at the Queen's antics and slowly returned the hug. They didn't care at all that she was a fishman… maybe, maybe these were the type of humans that Jinbe were talking about? The ones that made him strive for peace between both races...

She had a Devil Fruit too? That would be fun to spar with but if she was anywhere near her opponent's strength... Kaori might find it difficult to get a win.

"Unexpected, but I'm glad you guys are getting along," Rosan hummed. He wasn't really expecting her to want to stay here but that worked out fine. Maro now had a clear strongest soldier at her disposal.

Wait. Did she say her Master's name was Jinbe? The Warlord and probably the strongest fishman alive currently?

Hm... He'd have to keep that in mind. Kaori was quite reasonable despite what he did to her. He had no doubt that she still hated him but she was doing a good job masking it.

"She's very pleasant and I have to admit, I've never actually worked on a fishman before. I expected it to be difficult but there really were not much differences between you and a human," Demon shrugged.

"I've been… trying to be more accepting of everyone instead of automatically hating them," Angel admitted with an embarrassed expression. "I realize that my personality can make it a bit difficult for you guys so I'm trying to change and Kaori's not someone who deserves my rudeness…"

It was hard but it was something that she had been working on since her and Maro announced that they were getting married. She had a much easier time with the citizens of their Celadon but when going out and meeting others, her old habits came back with a vengeance.

Especially if they were political meetings... She was pretty sure Maro only liked bringing her to those so she had an excuse to bail.

Maro happily glomped Angel and snuggled her. "I'm so proud of you! You do whatever makes you happy!"

"S-Shut up," she grumbled with a red face. Without hesitation, she returned the hug and sighed happily at the floral scent of her wife.

"Wow, my older sister is actually maturing? I never thought I'd see the day," Demon teased, grinning at her and immediately wiping the small smile off her face.

"S-SHUT UP!" She said louder, getting ready to charge her stupid little brother.

Rosan watched them interact with a tiny smile that Kaori didn't miss.

"You must really love them, don't you?" She asked the redhead and he nodded his head without hesitation.

"Yes, they're my family. I'm sure if you spend enough time with them, you'll see why. They aren't at all like me."

Kaori went deep into thought at that, glancing at the three leaders of Celadon with a curious eye.

Rosan cleared his throat and gathered their attention instantly. "You guys want to know what happened with Arlong right? I'll tell you all about it."

They nodded eagerly and Maro had Kanna bring them snacks while he told the tale.

Kaori… Kaori could get used to this.

----------------------------------------

"The 16th branch base has been completely destroyed?"

"Yes… the late Captain Nezumi had been calling about a pirate named Straw Hat Luffy before the call abruptly ended… when we called back, all we could hear were his wet gurgles and him mentioning a Red Demon. We suspect that he had been brutally attacked."

"...Was it this Luffy to do it?"

"We don't think so. Based on evidence, we suspect that… it was either someone with some type of mythical zoan… most likely one that can breathe fire."

His grip on the dial tightened. "A Mythical Zoan that can breathe fire? What are you implying? That Kaido just randomly showed up and destroyed a Marine Base?"

It was too random even for the drunken Yonko. Flying all the way over to the East Blue and destroying a random Marine Base?

"That's not what we're implying! It couldn't have been Kaido," he said quickly, shivering at the memory. At the sheer terror he had felt listening over the line. Captain Nezumi didn't say much but there was nothing that could hide the amount of fear he had in his final moments.

"Well, it's just… in his dying moments, Captain Nezumi said, "Red. Demon. Killed," and then I… I heard an absolutely terrifying roar before, what we suspect to be, a rush of flames cut the connection. Here, we have it recorded for you to hear."

"RAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOGHHHHHHHHH!" The memory of the creature roared, before a different noise washed over everything and abruptly cut the connection.

It didn't even sound human.

"…" There was a tense silence that prompted the Marine to speak up again.

"A-After some deeper inspection, we found out that Captain Nezumi had been collaborating with the Arlong Pirates for years not to keep the pirates actions hidden. The Fishmen also went missing so perhaps it was a coded message? Red could mean blood, demon could be the Fishman and killed is obvious. The roar is more difficult to explain but I was told they had possession of a sea beast so maybe?"

He clenched a fist at that. Collaborating with pirates and hiding his threat? How completely shameful.

"...Garp should currently be in the East Blue, I'll inform him of the situation and see if he has any clues. Dismissed."

"Sir… what will we do about Nezumi's last words?"

"We don't have enough conclusive information to inquire what he was talking about. Be on the lookout for the missing fishman and distribute Straw Hat Luffy's bounty as planned."

"Right!"

Sengoku sighed in annoyance as his subordinate left. Corrupt Marines were running amok in the Blue Seas it seemed. Even now, Garp was currently in the East Blue to capture and deliver the former Captain, Morgan to his court martial.

Maybe the Vice Admiral would have a clue on just what attacked the deceased Nezumi…

Replaying that clip in his head, the Fleet Admiral frowned in confusion.

That roar didn't even sound like it belonged on a human. Zoans could very much speak while transformed so perhaps this was a creature that showed up from the Grand Line?

If it was a sea beast that belonged to the Arlong Pirates... It made sense but the rush of flames were far more confusing.

There was one Mythical Zoan user he knew about in the Blue Seas but she would never roar like that. It was beneath her and she had no reason to attack a Marine Base all the way in the East Blue...

He was getting too old for this shit. He never thought he'd have to be concerned about things happening outside the Grand Line.

----------------------------------------

"Nope, I don't know anything about that," Garp said bluntly, idly digging in his nose and taking a bite out of his rice crackers. "If I see the fishman, I'll deal with it but it could have just been a bored zoan user from the Grand Line. I heard Mihawk was in the East Blue recently so maybe they know somethin we don't."

"Just be on the lookout," Sengoku grunted in annoyance, hanging up the call. Dealing with Garp when he wasn't in person was too much of a headache and he already had one.

Garp took another rice cracker and munched on it, as the call ended.

The moment that happened, his face turned uncharacteristically serious.

A red demon, speculated to have a Mythical Zoan, with fire, attacking a Marine who had jurisdiction over Cocoyashi Village… the place where the pirate Straw Hat Luffy had just finished defeating Arlong.

It was too much to call it a coincidence. Only one person could have done this and it wasn't the Arlong Pirates and their Sea Beast.

Portgas D. Rosan.

The redhead made it abundantly clear that he could not stand the Marines, but since starting his journey, he didn't go out of his way to attack the normal ones.

The corrupt ones however? Garp doubted they were as lucky.

On one hand, Rosan had attacked and destroyed a Marine Base… On the other, that was the only Marine Base to have been destroyed in the East Blue…

Even after 10 years, Garp still didn't have the slightest clue what Rosan's Devil Fruit was. He himself thought it was a mythical too but the redhead very politely told him, "Fuck off. I'd rather get tortured for 10,000 years then divulge information about myself with a Marine. Don't ask me anything anymore."

They then got in a fight right after because Luffy and Ace began laughing at him and he decided to deliver justice on all three.

Damn brats.

Luffy and Rosan had been sailing together for a while now and it didn't seem like it was in the redhead's interest to needlessly attack the World Government.

That's why Garp chose not to inform Sengoku of what he knew. Rosan had been doing the Marines a favor by getting rid of such a corrupt person, who was willing to subject an entire village to 8 years of torment just for some money.

"I would rather die then put my trust in a group of people who would condemn a newborn for the sins of their parent. I was 4 and I had to watch my innocent mother die because of your organization. You think I don't know the cause of my mother's death? You think I don't know who caused it?"

Memories of a younger Rosan sprung up in his mind and the Vice Admiral grunted.

Good riddance. He was exactly what Rosan hated in a Marine and nothing would have been able to save him from his oldest brats wrath.

While he and the redhead's relationship did improve, it was not by much. He would still do him this one favor though, only because Rosan attacked one Marine Base and it was a corrupt one. If it continued to happen, they'd find out on their own it was Rosan and then there'd be nothing Garp could do at that point.

All his grandchildren choosing to become pirates...

Curse his Marine Duty clashing with his family.

He hoped this didn't become too prevalent in the future.

----------------------------------------

Bonus

"Miss All Sunday, what did I tell you about having one of your clones speak to me?" Mr. Zero asked with a raised brow, stamping down his annoyance due to knowing that it wouldn't achieve anything with her.

Frosty blue eyes stared uncaringly at their partner, unfazed by the question and offering them a placid smile. "I have more pressing matters to attend to. All you want, is for me to deliver a message for you anyways."

"More pressing matters?" He asked threateningly, eyes narrowing. "What matters are more pressing then taking my orders?"

The warning was clear in his tone. If she was planning something, he would find out and she'd regret every decision she ever made.

Still, she did not falter. The woman just raised a single brow at him.

Crocodile respected that. Ever since they first met, Miss All Sunday hadn't shown an ounce of fear towards him.

Well, not like she showed anything besides that fake smile. The woman seemed almost programmed at times.

Not like he cared. She did her job and she did it well.

"My business. Are you going to kill me if I don't tell you? Don't forget the rules we made. Do not pry into my life," she warned, fake smile still on her face.

"Be glad this is not something important, Nico Robin," Crocodile grunted, handing her a set of letters. "The next set of orders for the agents. Thanks to you, we have a nice lead on the location of the Princess."

She accepted them without hesitation, placing them in her cloak and walking off. "I'm just doing my job. Also, don't call me that name."

With that, Nico Robin left without so much as a wave.

Crocodile stared at her retreating back and took a puff out of his cigar.

He didn't know what that women was thinking most the time but as long as she continued to serve him, he didn't care.

"Princess Vivi of Alabasta... to think you managed to infiltrate my organization and find out my identity," the man muttered.

No matter, she'd be dead soon enough with no one ever figuring out he was Mr. Zero.

Then, he could fully commence his plans.

Crocodile's dark laughter rang throughout his base, for no one to hear.

----------------------------------------

Frosty blue eyes melted a bit, as they gazed tenderly at a picture of her best friend.

Nico Robin wasn't sure how long she had been staring at the picture of her and Rosan for, but she didn't really plan on moving anytime soon. She just continued to stare and reminisce.

If he were alive, he'd be 24 right about now. That little boy, so much shorter then her, would have been a grown man now. She wondered if his childish claims of being taller then her would be true?

Her heart ached at the thought that she'd never be able to find out how he would look with adulthood but despite that, she didn't shed a tear.

Robin wasn't sure when the last time she cried was. Perhaps it was the day she vowed to live on for the both of them? The day where she put a mask on and hid herself from the world.

What was the point in showing anyone anything? The world seemed so much darker without her sun.

Memories of all their moments began flowing and Robin abruptly stood up, lest she remain here for the rest of the day.

It would do her no good to just sulk here for hours on end.

Rosan would be furious if she did that.

So perhaps she'd do something he would like. Something productive. Coming to the Grand Line when she hit 18 meant she could always find something productive to do.

Rosan would really have loved this place. He'd have gotten so strong here...

"Princess Vivi knows your identity, Mr. Zero."

Perhaps she'd pay a visit to the naive princess currently stationed in Whiskey Peak. The same one who thought she had done such a good job infiltrating Baroque Works.

Unfortunately for her, Robin had her figured out immediately. Seeing as she was the only one who did, the Devil Child saw no reason to spoil her fun because it reminded her of when she herself used to do infiltration missions as a child.

Watching that princess naively navigate through such an impossible task...

Perhaps that's why she assisted the princess a bit in finding out Mr. Zero's identity. That naivety reminded her of her dear little friend. The same boy who deemed her his best friend almost immediately after meeting her.

Perhaps that's why she also leaked that the princess knew of Crocodile's identity. Being so naive did no one any favors. She needed a wake up call before her entire life got shattered.

Such gullible hopefulness, shouldn't try and shine in a world so dark.

She shouldn't be leaving her clone to do all the work for her. It was time to be productive.

The Devil Child stared at the picture of her and Rosan again and gently tucked it away.

"I… I don't want to be the reason you give up, so please keep fighting until we see each other again because I won't die," little Rosan, so adorable as he stared at her so resolutely, told her.

Robin sighed before her frozen mask appeared again and the woman idly stroked the single red strand of her hair that lay gently on her shoulder. It was her memento to him and the only reason her entire hair wasn't red, was because of how much Rosan adored the original color.

He liked everything about her. To him, Robin was perfect and vice versa...

She'd do anything to see Rosan again. Even once.

Even if it meant dying to reunite with him. Life really wasn't worth living right now anyways.